Defense Strategy Hinges On Confusion Of Names

Defense Strategy Turns On Name-confusion Issue

November 13, 1991|By JACK EWING; Courant Staff Writer

Possibly turning a new page in the annals of criminal defense, a man accused of murder has suggested in court that witnesses to an August slaying may have mistaken him for one of his three brothers -- all of whom have the same first and last name.

Jose Waldino Zaporta comes from a family in which all four sons are named Jose. Only their middle initials vary. Their father is Jose Zaporta Sr., defense attorney M. Hatcher Norris said.

Norris signaled that he plans to try to use the unusual circumstance to his advantage as he defends Zaporta, 31, against charges he shot and killed Ricardo Figueroa on South Marshall Street in Hartford.

During a hearing at Hartford Superior Court on whether there is substance to the charges, Norris asked one eyewitness, "Do you know his brother Jose? Do you know his other brother Jose? Do you know his other brother Jose?"

The witness said she did not.

However, that witness and several others -- all teenagers who happened to be on South Marshall Street when the shooting took place -- said they knew the Zaporta who was in court or recognized him from the neighborhood.

None seemed to have any doubt which person walked up to Figueroa as he leaned against a green station wagon, fired, then fired again after Figueroa fell to his knees and sprawled on the sidewalk. Figueroa was 17.

"Him right there," a 14-year-old boy testified Tuesday, pointing at Zaporta, when asked by prosecutor John H. Malone to identify the man he had seen just before the shooting at about 11:30 p.m. Aug. 30.

Based on such testimony, Judge David M. Barry ruled Tuesday that there is probable cause to pursue the murder charge.

The witnesses said the shooting followed an argument over an electric fan that Zaporta was carrying and which Figueroa tried to buy. It escalated into a fight in which, witnesses said, Zaporta cut a friend of Figueroa's on the temple. Figueroa and the friend, identified as Raymond, responded by severely beating Zaporta with golf clubs.

After the fight, Zaporta vowed, "Ricardo and Raymond were going to get their's one by one," the 14-year-old boy testified Tuesday.

Barry refused to let Norris present a witness who, the defense lawyer said, was talking to Figueroa when the shooting took place and would testify that Zaporta was not the killer. Barry said a jury should decide which witnesses to believe. The purpose of the hearing that concluded Tuesday was not to determine whether Zaporta is guilty, only whether the case should proceed.

Zaporta, who is in jail for lack of $150,000 bond, pleaded not guilty following Barry's ruling.